In a span of about 90 minutes on Wednesday night, Major League Baseball melted the proverbial faces of the sporting world with three dramatic win or go-home games. For a generation of sports fans that want/need/must-have information at every possible juncture, Wednesday night’s finish was just about perfect. And if that wasn’t quick enough, 48 hours later, we begin the playoffs. A couple of quick thoughts about what went down on “Wild Card Wednesday” and the days ahead for this crazy, drug-free season. Read the rest of this entry

NBC was once a proud network in the days of Seinfeld and even Friends. But then NBC greenlit Joey, and Outsourced, and then they went through a very public divorce from Conan O’Brien, and well…it’s not been a good couple of years.

So now NBC is trying desperately to become the new home of all football news and as part of that mission/goal, they are giving unbearable, leprechaun, douche-fanboy Mike Florio more air and webtime. To his credit, Florio has turned his basic website, Profootballtalk.com, into a mini-empire. Dick Ebersol rarely misses on anything, so why would this be any different, right?

(fart noise)

Why, Florio is even appearing on television with Peter King! Florio also likes to try to create stories, or put his own spin on them. He also loves to brag about his influence in the industry.

In March 2010, after the NFL combine, Florio erroneously reported that Tim Tebow called for a prayer before the Wonderlic test and that someone told him to “Shut the F— up.”

Last January 2011, Florio lashed out at Packers QB Aaron Rodgers for allegedly ignoring a cancer-survivor fan who was seeking his autograph at the airport. Florio helped build the story through his site, and then when all the facts came out he walked it back, to his credit, like a man.

In March, while the lockout was going on, Florio predicted total calamity unless the parental NFL was restarted to keep their irresponsible adult-age players from committing unspeakable crimes.

A few weeks back, after week 1, Florio planted the idea that Matt Ryan was a choke artist, and that Ryan was going to shit the bed against the Eagles at home in the Georgia dome. That didn’t happen, and Florio didn’t say a word.

Now Florio is claiming that Peyton Hillis, the Madden coverboy and Jesus freak, sat out last Sunday’s victory over the winless-Miami Dolphins with strep throat over a contract extension that the Browns and Hillis’ representation are working to get done, despite evidence that Hillis, well, had strep throat and was sent home.

Though many will point to the Madden curse as a reason for Hillis missing a game due to a case of strep throat, we’re more inclined to wonder whether Hillis’ unwillingness to play was influenced in any way by the lack of a new contract. Hillis continues to earn the fourth-year minimum of $600,000. If the team had made a long-term commitment with a big-money bonus, would Hillis have been more willing to give it a try?

Maybe Hillis lost those 10-12 lbs. over the stress of negotiating a new contract with the Browns. Or maybe Florio just sucks.

Remember that scene in “Revenge of the Nerds” when Hiroshi is collecting all the Alpha Beta’s sweaty jocks after practice and Stan Gable pulls his over Takashi’s head. That’s Florio, except he went home and made a snow angel in them. Then called Stan’s house and breathed heavy into the phone.

Elderly eskimo-woman and weight watchers fugitive Steven Seagal is an MMA god. Seagal has worked with super-fighter and middleweight champion Anderson Silva, as well as former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida in his comeback win over the now-retired Randy Couture. With the exception of most Subway $5 footlongs, anything this guy touches becomes bigger and stronger.

This is in spite of the fact that Seagal’s martial arts discipline is Aikido, a defensive martial art, that over time has blended with some judo, that works best against smaller opponents and requires little physical strength to execute. It’s mostly redirecting an attacker’s energy and not a really aggressive discipline. That is why every Seagal movie shows him snapping people’s arms or throwing them into glass windows. Like there were thousands of glass windows aboard that submarine in Under Siege!

As we mentioned earlier, Seagal’s been volunteering to do laundry and buy green M&M’s for mentor MMA fighters, including UFC-living-legend Anderson Silva. Silva credited Seagal with a bizarre front kick that he used to finish Vitor Belfort at UFC 126. It turns out that Seagal asked Jon Bones Jones’ camp if he could address the champ before his fight with Rampage Jackson, no dice, according to Jones.

But Seagal still showed up as a spectator for UFC 135 and even gave an interview afterwards. The whole interview is pretty lame but perhaps worth a listen. Seagal takes the contrarian view that Jones didn’t look his best, despite the overwhelming interpretation otherwise, and that this was best he has ever seen Rampage look. Fair enough, I didn’t see the fight, but I do know that Rampage has never been known as a ring technician, he’s basically a boxer with some wrestling/slams, and Jones’ lines up well against that type of fight base.

Seagal also disagrees with Rogan’s take that this is the best that Jones has looked but at least Rogan’s been at all the fights, and even spars with many of the fighters. What would Rogan know anyway, though. Has he ever killed Screwface, and his twin brother? I don’t think so.

This video is worth a second look, like parody porn.

Although I was very much looking forward to UFC 135 I have to confess I didn’t get to see it. You see, my expense account with the Deuce is under investigation and WHAT AM I MADE OF MONEY??? Okay sorry to fly off the handle like that, but I get cranky when I don’t see my fights.

Well, it looks like this Jon “Bones” Jones character, who talks like Phil Jackson and fights like Anderson Silva, may actually be pretty good. Rampage Jackson literally lived in the gym for two months for this fight but went out in the first submission loss of his career, a rear naked choke that only sounds dirty but is actually quite lethal.

Next up for Jones is likely a fight with former friend and mentor Rashad Evans, who was technically the number 1 contender after beating Rampage last year.

Courtesy of FOXSPORTS.com:

It didn’t take Jones long to end that notion. Jones opened up a cut above Jackson’s right eye with an elbow in the third round and it was pretty much all over from there.

With his win, Jones may just be bringing stability back to the division. The belt has switched hands a number of times since Jackson last won the crown in 2007.

Down the road, Jones will face Rashad Evans, who was taking in the fight from the seats.

Evans knows Jones quite well — and there’s no love lost between them.

He was friends and training partners with Jones before a falling out led to some bitter feelings.

The low-key Jones beat Mauricio “Shogun” Rua last March to become the youngest title holder in UFC history. But he was facing probably the hardest puncher around in Jackson.

The Ultimate Fighter has been a huge source of talent for the UFC over the years. Great fighers like Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, War Machine (personal favorite), and Michael Bisping have been introduced to fight fans through the reality show. Other fighters, like Matt Mitrione, Ryan Bader, and Court McGee, are slowly coming on the radar as well.

Well, before UFC moves over the basic cable HBO FX Network we are treated to a final season of the TUF on Spike. After basically three shitty seasons, including that awful heavyweights season, we finally got some decent fights out of the premiere episode, with the bantamweights and featherweights duking it out. The coaches are Michael Bisping, and Jason “Mayhem” Miller but the chances of them actually fighting are not too good, given the show’s recent track record.

There were some good fights on the two-hour premiere episode and without giving out any spoilers I encourage you to check it out here.

But first, let us both endure this god awful press release from UFC about their crappy show:

That changes this season. Because the featherweights and bantamweights have been flying (Editor’s note: ho, ho, ho!) under the radar until this year, there has been plenty of top talent that hasn’t made the transition to the big stage of the UFC. The pay scale between the bottom of the WEC and the top of, say, Tachi Palace was roughly the same, so fighters were content to stick around the indie leagues and hone their craft. That all changed with the inclusion of the two weight classes in the UFC earlier this year. The pay might not be much better, but the exposure is exponentially greater.

Suddenly, the UFC is the place to be for lower-weight fighters looking to make a name for themselves.

The Ultimate Fighter 14 will give a much-needed shot in the arm to the UFC featherweight and bantamweight ranks, and coaches Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Michael Bisping will provide the kind of ludicrous fireworks that make for great television entertainment. I expect a lot from this season, and I think it will deliver in spades.

Best fights:

MATT JAGGERS vs. TJ DILLASHAW (135): Dillashaw is a Team Alpha Male member, and he’s also HeavyMMA’s exclusive Ultimate Fighter blogger for this season. We’ll have TJ on Heavy each Thursday discussion the previous night’s episode of the show, so stay tuned for that. Dillashaw fights almost exactly like a cross between Urijah Faber and Joseph Benavidez. Dillashaw wins this one by pounding Jaggers out at the end of the first round. The bell rings, but Jaggers is obviously out and the fight is called. TJ Dillashaw d. Matt Jaggers via TKO, round 1

STEVEN SILER vs. MICAH MILLER (145): Miller is the brother of Cole Miller and was considered to be one of the featherweight favorites going into the house. Siler put an end to that one, submitting him in the third round. Steven Siler d. Micah Miller via submission, round 3

BRIAN PEARMAN vs. AKIRA CORRASANI: Corrasani says he is an artist that entertains people with his brutal style. That’s neat. He certainly did that here, drilling Pearman with a ton of punches and then knocking him out. Pearman has one hell of a chin. Akira Corrasani d. Brian Pearman via TKO, round 1